As the 20 members of the field face off in the second round of debates on Tuesday and Wednesday, political strategists and journalists take note of what to expect.
The progressive friends will debate each other on Tuesday and pit their similar platforms against each other. Tensions might rise because Warren has overtaken Sanders in some polling, and he failed to name something he admires about the fellow Democrat during a CNN interview. “Well, Senator Warren is a friend of mine, and I admire the fact that we have worked together over the years on a number of issues,” he told Poppy Harlow.
In the previous debates, immigration, the environment, health care, race and women’s rights took most of the spotlight. Some of the next issues are set to be Medicare, tax cuts, manufacturing and trade wars. But strategist, campaign manager and former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile mentions a few other topics that haven’t been hit hard during the debates yet. “One main issue of the election will be guaranteeing the integrity of the election by clamping down on cybercrime and foreign meddling and fighting attempts to disenfranchise voters,” she tells Capitol File. “This election won’t be about taking away airplanes or cows or hamburgers. It will be about providing equality, opportunity and safeguarding our rights and freedoms.”
Axiom reported this week that a newspapers.com account apparently linked to one of Kirsten Gillibrand’s researchers had been saving clips related to Joe Biden’s past records. Gillibrand also said in Iowa, “We have Democratic candidates running for president right now who do not believe necessarily that it’s a good idea that women work outside the home.” The quote and research imply that the New York senator plans to target Biden as Kamala Harris did during the last debate, a move that successfully boosted her polling.
Photography by: Photography by Carl Timpone/BFA.com
